A
worldview is a set of convictions about the reality
and meaning of life, which acts as a framework establishing the truth;
declaring our faith; and impacting our understanding of ethics, science,
religion, philosophy, ideology, business, governance and human relations, nigh
on everything in life. For example,
secular humanists, Darwinists and Buddhists hold particular worldviews. And Christians follow a worldview
comprehensively articulated in the Holy Bible.

The
Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit constituted the “Universal Church” at
Pentecost and that this Church consists of those believers whom God has called
to faith in Christ and empowered with counsel of the Holy Spirit. Two millenniums later, the many Christian
denominations and churches of today all claim this same nature: (1) to be made
up of God’s elect; (2) to follow Jesus Christ; and (3) to have the blessing of
the Holy Spirit. But the veritable smorgasbord
of beliefs and convictions, all in the name of the one Gospel of Jesus Christ,
cannot be correct. These organizations
and assemblies say they have Jesus Christ at their center; however, the
circumference of beliefs bounding the “orthodox” Gospel varies
drastically from one church to another.

Here,
orthodox means the English equivalent of the Greek orthodoxia (from
orthos, “right,” and doxa, “opinion”), which is right belief, as
opposed to heresy or heterodoxy. The term orthodox is not
Biblical; no Christian writer uses it before the second century. The word expresses the idea that certain
statements accurately embody the revealed truth content of Christianity, and
are therefore in their own nature proper for the Universal Church. This
idea is rooted in the New Testament insistence that the Gospel has a specific
factual and theological content and that no fellowship should exist with those
who deny it.

With
so many faith choices today, all under the claimed title “Christianity,” how
can a seeker or a believer identify the boundaries demarcating authentic belief
from false teaching or an orthodox church from the counterfeit? Traditionally, the declaration of a clear
statement of beliefs, called a “Creed” or a “Rule of Faith,” accomplished this
need. During the early centuries of
Christianity, Gnosticism presented a severe threat to the Church. Many Gnostic sects claimed the title
“Christian,” yet did not believe in the God detailed in the Old Testament and
did not believe Jesus Christ was divine - the Son of God. The crux of the “Creed” for defining
orthodoxy lay in the assertion of the unity of the divine plan from Old
Testament to New and the detailing of a short summary of the main revelatory
events of the redemptive process. Until
the post modern era the traditional creedal statements had adequately anchored
the faith of adherents, fulfilled the need for a basis of unity, and exposed
most heretical doctrines. But today, in
this era of unprecedented medical, pharmaceutical and biological technologies
and the equally unparalleled moral-social liberalism encouraged and enabled by
their use, the Apostles Creed and like bodied Rules of Faith are no longer
sufficient to confidently identify authentic Christianity. The traditional creedal tenets are no
less crucial; they still contain irreplaceable truths. However, much like the situation faced by
the Early Church with Gnosticism, the contemporary problem is the poor
scriptural integrity of most of the declarations of liberal-minded “Christians”
and the harm done by what their churches omit to declare. These “professed” believers no longer walk
or talk the Gospel truth and no longer use the Bible as the ultimate
authority (revelation) for confirming God’s will. Their lay leadership and clergy are often deliberately vague and
elusive about certain details of the authentic faith, thereby misleading their
followers. Many in this category,
refuse to recognize or acknowledge the double mindedness (irrationality) of
their theological assertions. Developed
well before the eras of the so-called “Technological Society” and of “Liberal
Christianity;” before these happenings had reached their present heights, the
traditional creeds do not adequately address contemporary issues like:
abortion, contraception, homosexual liberation, euthanasia, baby production,
genetic engineering and so on.

Today,
we find most Christians asserting that abortion on-demand is the wanton murder
of an innocent life, and yet other “Christians” declare that women have a
God-given right to have abortions. Is
this type of controversy a serious matter?
The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth warns: “Now,
brothers, I want to remind you of the Gospel I preached to you, which you
received and on which you have taken your stand. By this Gospel you
are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise,
you have believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). What we do (and do not) profess
matters. The Church that the Holy
Spirit constitutes, and the Gospel to which Paul refers in his letter, do not
embody double minded truth revelations: one pro-abortion, the other against;
one pro-contraception, the other against; one pro-same-sex marriage, the other
against. Although many wish it were so,
these matters are not minor issues upon which Christians can agree to disagree
on, and then continue in fellowship.
[More will be said on these topics later in this website with the goal
of debugging the tragic notion that the Holy Spirit is somehow bi-polar,
having one counsel for the orthodox and another contradictory revelation for
liberal-minded “Christians.”]

In sum, historic Rules of Faith to which everyone
(orthodox, unorthodox, authentic and counterfeit) is equally willing to profess
differentiates no one. Given the nature
of the current challenges and threats to the faith, a significantly “augmented
creed” is needed. Only a comprehensive
articulation of the Christian Worldview can meet this challenge. Equipped with an improved “identity card”
for recognition of authentic Christianity, believers will be better able to
fellowship in confidence, trust and understanding. Moreover, a clear summary of the Christian Worldview is crucial
in eradicating the unscriptural smorgasbord of beliefs plaguing Canadian Christendom
and sustaining the “status quo” ineffectual witness.